Quotes About Action

Even now we can draw back. But once we cross that little bridge, we must settle things by the sword.

The moment one definitely commits oneself, the Providence moves, too. All sorts of things occur to help that would never otherwise have occurred. A stream of events issues from the decision, raising unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.

You can't try to do things; you simply must do them.

We should not permit tolerance to degenerate into indifference.

Most people are not for or against anything; the first object of getting people together is to make them respond somehow, to overcome inertia.

Thus conscience does make cowards of us all; And thus the native hue of resolution Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought; And enterprises of great pith and moment, With this regard, their currents turn awry, And lose the name of action.

It is better by noble boldness to run the risk of being subject to half of the evils we anticipate than to remain in cowardly listlessness for fear of what might happen.

If one is willing to do a thing he is afraid to do, he does not have to ... face a situation fearlessly, and [if] there is no situation to face; it falls away of its own weight.

He who is afraid of every nettle should not piss in the grass.

There is something healthy and invigorating about direct action.

We must have courage to bet on our ideas, on the calculated risk, and to act. Everyday living requires courage if life is to be effective and bring happiness.

Courage is never letting your actions be influenced by your fears.

How, then, find the courage for action? By slipping a little into unconsciousness, spontaneity, instinct which holds one to the earth and dictates the relatively good and useful. ... By accepting the human condition more simply, and candidly, by dreading troubles less, calculating less, hoping more.

In true courage there is always an element of choice, of an ethical choice, and of anguish, and also of action and deed. There is always a flame of spirit in it, a vision of some necessity higher than oneself.

The moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help that would never otherwise have occurred. A stream of events issues from the decision, raising unforeseen incidents and meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way.

A cowardly cur barks more fiercely than it bites.

One who in a perilous emergency thinks with his legs.

Think that day lost whose (low) descending sun Views from thy hand no noble action done.

Choice of attention ... is to the inner life what choice of action is to the outer. In both cases, a man is responsible for his choice and must accept the consequences, whatever they may be.

Living is a constant process of deciding what we are going to do.

Look for your choices, pick the best one, then go with it.

Decide which is the line of conduct that presents the fewest drawbacks and then follow it out as being the best one, because one never finds anything perfectly pure and unmixed, or exempt from danger.

Not all of your decisions will be correct. None of us is perfect. But if you get into the habit of making decisions, experience will develop your judgment to a point where more and more of your decisions will be right. After all, it is better to be right 51 percent of the time and get something done, than it is to get nothing done because you fear to reach a decision.

A decision is an action you must take when you have information so incomplete that the answer does not suggest itself.